Word.ws English Dictionary

spick

/spɪk/

spick is the alternative spelling of spic.

spick is the pronunciation spelling of speak.

Meaning of spic

Noun

spic (plural spics)

  1. (US, derogatory, ethnic, offensive, slur) Synonym of Latino, an inhabitant of Latin America or person of Latin American descent.
  2. (US, ethnic, slur, uncommon) Synonym of Italian, an inhabitant of Italy or person of Italian descent.
    • “He’s a spic” he said. He was frantic with jealousy, he didn’t want to be hurt again.1934, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, edited by Malcolm Cowley, Tender is the Night […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1951, →OCLC, book IV (Escape: 1925–1929), page 236
    Synonyms:
    Italian

Meaning of speak

Verb

speak (third-person singular simple present speaks, present participle speaking, simple past spoke or (archaic) spake, past participle spoken or (colloquial, nonstandard) spoke)

  1. (intransitive) To communicate with one's voice, to say words out loud.
    • And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 203
  2. (intransitive, reciprocal) To have a conversation.
    • It's been ages since we've spoken.
  3. (broadly) To communicate or converse by some means other than orally, such as writing or facial expressions.
    • He spoke of it in his diary.
  4. (intransitive) To deliver a message to a group; to deliver a speech.
    • This evening I shall speak on the topic of correct English usage.
  5. (stative, transitive) To be able to communicate in a language.
    • He speaks Mandarin fluently.
    1. (broadly, stative, transitive) To be able to communicate in the manner of specialists in a field.
      • Even those who did 'speak computer' did so sometimes in a less than fluent way which required a jump to be made from a press-the-right-button stage to having the confidence to experiment.1998, Nigel G Fielding, Raymond M Lee, Computer Analysis and Qualitative Research, page 4

See all 15 meanings of speak

Noun

spick (plural spicks)

  1. (obsolete) A nail, a spike (slender piece of wood or metal, used as a fastener).

Adjective

spick (comparative spicker, superlative spickest)

  1. Tidy; fresh.
    • Internally the building bad been modernized and reconstructed to a point where it was doubtful whether its previous tenants would be able to recognize a single room. Outside it had become spick. The yards and sheds had a suburban rather than a rural tidiness and had for years known no form of...1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 218

Forms of spick

Noun
pluralspicks
Adjective
comparativespicker
superlativespickest

Origin of spick

Variant of spike.

Words formed from spick

Phrases with spick

Words that rhyme with spick

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about spick

What does spick mean?
Spick means a nail, a spike (slender piece of wood or metal, used as a fastener).
What is spick the alternative spelling of?
Spick is the alternative spelling of spic.
What part of speech is spick?
Spick can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce spick?
Spick is pronounced /spɪk/.
What is the plural of spick?
The plural of spick is spicks.

Words near spick in the dictionary

  1. spiciness
  2. spicinesses
  3. spicing
  4. spicing up
  5. spicish
  6. spick
  7. spick and span
  8. spick and spandy
  9. spick-and-span
  10. spick-and-spanness
  11. Spickard

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: spick (page history and authors); spic (page history and authors); speak (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spick.wav.

Cite this entry: “spick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/spick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.